Football Preview: Williams Valley Vikings vs. Pine Grove Cardinals
Williams Valley is 8-1 against Pine Grove since October of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Williams Valley Vikings will head out on the road to take on the Pine Grove Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Williams Valley has three straight wins, Pine Grove has four straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Williams Valley is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 75-3 victory over Shenandoah Valley at home. With the Vikings ahead 47-0 at the half, the game was all but over already.
Brady Shomper and Fletcher Thompson were among the main playmakers for Williams Valley as the former threw for 245 yards and four touchdowns while completing 81.8% of his passes and the latter rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns on only eight carries. Shomper is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last three games he's played dating back to last season. Kian Krzyzanowski was Shomper's top target, picking up 116 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Williams Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 367 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Williams Valley's defense and their three sacks. In fact, those sacks all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Brayden Crisswell.
Meanwhile, a win for Pine Grove just wasn't in the cards on Friday as the team wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They were dealt a 34-7 defeat at the hands of Marian Catholic.
Pine Grove didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Logan Troup and Brayden Lyons.
Williams Valley's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-1. As for Pine Grove, their loss dropped their record down to 1-8.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's contest: Williams Valley has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 414.4 total yards per game. It's a different story for Pine Grove, though, as they've been averaging only 160.9. Will Williams Valley be able to march up the field at their leisure again, or will Pine Grove flip the script?
Everything came up roses for Williams Valley against Pine Grove in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, as the squad secured a 48-6 win. In that matchup, Williams Valley amassed a halftime lead of 28-6, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
